Iowa Public Employees Retirement System (IPERS) vs New Jersey Teachers Pension & Annuity Fund (TPAF)
Side-by-side pension health comparison from DOL and public plan data
Iowa Public Employees Retirement System (IPERS) and New Jersey Teachers Pension & Annuity Fund (TPAF) are meaningfully apart on the LakeQuality pension-health rubric: Iowa Public Employees Retirement System (IPERS) grades A while New Jersey Teachers Pension & Annuity Fund (TPAF) grades C. Funding ratios: 85% vs 48%.
Iowa Public Employees Retirement System (IPERS) comes out ahead on the composite rubric. For a participant in either plan, the spread is informative but not directly actionable — pension participation is not portable, so the relevant question is what each plan's funded-status trajectory means for that participant's benefit security.
Verdict
Iowa Public Employees Retirement System (IPERS) has a stronger Pension Health Score of 80/100 (A) compared to New Jersey Teachers Pension & Annuity Fund (TPAF) at 51/100 (C). Funding ratios differ by 36.7 percentage points (84.8% vs 48.1%). Iowa Public Employees Retirement System (IPERS) covers 372,000 participants.
| Metric | Iowa Public Employees Retirement System (IPERS) | New Jersey Teachers Pension & Annuity Fund (TPAF) |
|---|---|---|
| Health Score Composite of funding ratio, trend, and PBGC risk | 80/100 (A)* | 51/100 (C) |
| Funding Ratio Assets as % of liabilities (100%+ is fully funded) | 84.8%* | 48.1% |
| Total Assets | $35.5B | $28.5B |
| Total Liabilities | $41.9B* | $59.3B |
| Unfunded Liability | $6.4B* | $30.8B |
| Participants | 372,000 | 268,000 |
| 1-Year Investment Return | 6.4%* | 4.9% |
| Plan Type | public | public |
| PBGC Risk Level | low | high |
| Sponsor | State of Iowa | State of New Jersey |
Iowa Public Employees Retirement System (IPERS) has a stronger Pension Health Score of 80/100 (A) compared to New Jersey Teachers Pension & Annuity Fund (TPAF) at 51/100 (C). Funding ratios differ by 36.7 percentage points (84.8% vs 48.1%). Iowa Public Employees Retirement System (IPERS) covers 372,000 participants.